VietNamNet Bridge – The Government is considering a delay in applying the road maintenance fee until January 1, 2013, six months later than scheduled, an official said.

Pham Ngoc Thach, head of the environmental tax, charges, and fees office under the Finance Ministry’s Tax Policy Department, released the information yesterday.

Under Governmental Decree No. 18, users of motorized vehicles will have to a pay road maintenance fee from June 1, 2012, but the Government has recently requested concerned agencies to consider the delay, given that people are facing difficulties in their daily lives thanks to the challenged economy, Thach said.

The Finance Ministry said that motorbikes are the main means of transport of most people in daily activities, so if the fee is applied in a time when the economy remains in a difficult spot, it will put more of a burden on everyone.

The ministry also said the fee rates on trucks should be calculated reasonably, since if the rates are too high, it will push up the prices of goods and it is consumers who will eventually suffer from the high fee.

According to the Transport Ministry’s proposal, a rate of VND180,000 (US$8.65) per month will be levied on under-12-seat cars and under-2-ton trucks, while the highest rate, VND1.44 million ($69.2) per month, will be applied to over-18-ton trucks and 40’’ container trucks.

The rate will be VND80,000-120,000 per year for motorbikes.

The Hanoi Transport Association has recently proposed that the fee be delayed until 2013 and that the fee rates be reduced by 60 percent.

However, according to VnExpress newswires, the fee rates proposed by the ministry will be kept unchanged.

Of the fee amount collected from automobiles, 65 percent will be managed by the central road maintenance fund, and the rest will be kept by local funds. Meanwhile, the entire revenue from motorbikes will belong to local funds, according to the ministry.